When I wrote my first blog for The Strong more than a year ago, I talked about nostalgia—so it seems appropriate that I should come full circle and take some time to reflect back on my time at the museum before heading off to a new job in a new city.
I’ve learned a great deal in the last two years. I can safely handle artifacts and identify French fashion doll manufacturers. I know more than I ever thought possible about […]

Continue Reading about Lessons from the Toy Box Published on:
June 19, 2012

One-hit wonders. You know them well—the artists whose catchy lyrics and infectious tunes earn them a fleeting moment of mega fame before they plunge back into obscurity. Even so, songs like “Come on Eileen” and “Ice Ice Baby” will live on forever, immortalized in VH1 countdowns and karaoke archives. I can probably do the “Macarena” in my sleep (VH1 considers the 1996 Los Del Rio tune the top one-hit wonder of all time), but I’m also familiar with a different […]

Continue Reading about One-Hit Wonders Published on:
June 12, 2012

…except when it comes to toys.
We spend a lot of time talking about the way the media portrays women—how images of svelte, scantily-clad models on New York City’s sky-high billboards affect us mere mortals below, for instance. The struggle with body image and beauty standards begins at a very young age for girls, often with toys like Barbie, the beautiful doll who stares mockingly up at everyone unfortunate enough to be made of something other than flawless plastic. But this […]

Continue Reading about Boys Will Be Boys… Published on:
April 25, 2012

In 2009, Mattel introduced two new Barbie dolls, Edward and Bella, to their Pink Label collection. I’m sure most recognize this famous duo as Bella Swan and her sparkly vampire beau, Edward Cullen, from the Twilight saga. Mattel released the dolls in conjunction with the November 2009 premiere of the movie New Moon, and has since turned characters Jacob, Alice, Victoria, and Jane into dolls as well. It seems Mattel couldn’t help but notice that Twilight has a veritable army […]

Continue Reading about Teddy Meets Twilight: Popular Culture’s Influence on Toys Published on:
February 7, 2012

As a kid, I had the good fortune of a basement playroom brimming with toys, from a massive pink Barbie Dream House to bins full of Lego bricks and even an air hockey table. Though I enjoyed all these toys, I gravitated to a box full of blank, hardcover books more than anything else in the basement. I could spend hours filling the books’ pages with stories and pictures, such as “The Cheese Family,” stories about a family of traveling […]

Continue Reading about More than Just a Toy Published on:
January 17, 2012

If you believe, as I did, that Barbie has a flair for fashion unparalleled among dolls, what with her sparkling, sequined, and infinite polyester outfits, then you’re in for a bit of a shock. Barbie may hold the title of princess in the world of style but, with a wardrobe that would make even the most glamorous Barbie gawk, the French fashion doll of the mid-19th century reigns as undisputed queen.
French fashion dolls have their roots in the clothing industry. […]

Continue Reading about Before Barbie Published on:
November 15, 2011

While cleaning out my parents’ basement before moving into my first-ever apartment, I came across two treasured “artifacts” of my past: a poster of Johnny Depp in his Pirates of the Caribbean get-up and my childhood dollhouse. As it turns out, the two items are not as unrelated as you might think.
 As I prepared (five years ago now—yikes) for my freshman year of college, I faced a quandary: how to decorate my first-ever dorm room, a space I would share […]

Continue Reading about The Pirate and the Dollhouse Published on:
September 13, 2011

Before I joined the Collections Team at The Strong, I worked as a host on the Guest Services Team. I cannot begin to count the number of times I overheard a museum visitor point at a Barbie Dream House, a Lionel train set, or any of the thousands of artifacts on display, and exclaim, “I had that exact toy growing up!” This proved to me, time and again, that adults and children alike have meaningful experiences at the museum. Though […]

Continue Reading about New at the Museum: Video Kiosks! Published on:
August 16, 2011

During May, when the northeast still struggles to release itself from winter’s icy grasp, I can’t help but turn my thoughts to the approaching summer months. Right around Memorial Day, bass season opens on Lake Ontario. Growing up, this annual event served as the harbinger of summer vacation. My grandfather owned a fishing camp in the Thousand Islands on Lake Ontario, more specifically at Mud Bay, aptly named for the murky, opaque water that fills it. Every summer, my family—including […]

Continue Reading about Fun, Family, and Fish: Summertime Memories Published on:
July 5, 2011